Greece interested in Azeri gas

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Greece expressed its interest in importing natural gas from Azerbaijan when the second stage of the offshore Shah Deniz field comes online, officials said.

Natiq Aliyev, the Azeri energy minister, welcomed Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Spyros Kouvelis to discuss a series of bilateral issues, the Trend news agency reports.

According to the Azeri government, Kouvelis said his country is interested in importing "large volumes" of natural gas from Shah Deniz.

Proven gas reserves in Azerbaijan total 71 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, with more than half of that capacity held in the offshore Shah Deniz gas field.

Development of the second phase of the Shah Deniz gas and condensate field is delayed to 2016 because of a lack of export contracts, however.

Azerbaijan could export as much as 35 billion cubic feet of gas to Greece. Aliyev said that before Greece receives natural gas, however, transit issues need clarification.